In the past various types of water wheels or water driven engines have been used for the purpose of converting the kinetic energy in a flowing or falling body of water into mechanical rotary motion which is then used for generating electricity or for some other useful purpose. Prior water wheels typically comprise an array of water-receiving buckets or vanes arranged around the periphery of the wheel to be acted upon in some way by the flowing or falling body of water.
In some water-driven engine constructions water is delivered in a free falling stream into the open ends of the buckets mentioned above, causing the water-driven device to be driven by the weight of water received in the buckets. In other constructions of the water wheel type the water is customarily delivered in jets issuing from nozzles to impinge against either buckets or vanes extending around the periphery of the water wheel. In this type of water wheel the nozzles are conventionally located exteriorly of the buckets at some position beyond the perimeter of the water wheel. With this arrangement the nozzles deliver the streams or jets of water inwardly toward the wheel and into the open ends of the buckets to thrust against the buckets, causing the wheel to rotate.
Representative teachings of the foregoing water-driven engine constructions are found in U.S. Pat. No. 467,840 which issued to J. C. Walker on Jan. 26, 1892, U.S. Pat. No. 125,843 which issued to R. C. Parvin on Apr. 16, 1872, U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,698 which issued to J. J. Brewer on Oct. 5, 1976, U.S. Pat. No. 2,163,102 which issued to H. Odill on June 20, 1939, U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,756 which issued to E. S. Meier on June 20, 1972, U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,686 which issued R. Trotta on Sept. 12, 1978, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,130 which issued to B. Van Mechelen on May 18, 1976.